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One more for the geeks

Web 2.0 is the latest cyber buzzword

THE NEW ADDRESS Web 2.0

The world of the Internet changes rapidly, and with every change, a new term is added to the already bewildering array of cyber-isms. In the last couple of years, one of the more mystifying terms being bandied about is web 2.0. Is it new software? A new website? Or has a new form of the Internet been developed that we didn't know about?

The answer appears to be a bit of all of the above, with the third being closest to its intended meaning. Web 2.0 is a term coined in 2004 by O'Reilly Media, an American company that provides cutting-edge information on computer and web technology through books, websites and conferences, and refers to a second generation of Internet services, including blogs and wikis. If you're asking yourself `What second generation?' then you're not alone; cyber pundits are themselves in conflict over the term, and some of them are of the opinion that it's just a meaningless buzzword.

Changing face

However, it's worth taking a look at some of the features that O'Reilly has highlighted as characterising web 2.0 because it gives us some insight into the changing face of the Internet. "I think that web 2.0 refers to a progression in the Internet rather than an absolute change," says Neerav, a 19-year-old blogger and self-confessed geek. "It is a revolution that's taking place, making the web more and more interactive and less static."

A hallmark of Internet services that epitomise web 2.0 is using the `collective intelligence' of their users in different ways. For example, wikipedia is an encyclopaedia that allows all users to create and edit its entries. The online store amazon.com provides extensive user reviews, and provides suggestions to improve search results by tracking user activity in their database. Google's famous PageRank search algorithm weighs the popularity of websites in their search results based on the hyperlinks that users have created to that website. Del.icio.us, the social bookmarking site that allows users to access and share their bookmarks online, and Flickr, the photo-sharing website, use `folksonomy' (as opposed to taxonomy) that allows the categorisation of content based on user-defined tags and associations rather than rigid categories. And of course, blogs, with their constantly updated user-driven content, and web of links to numerous other blogs are a classic example of the `wisdom of the crowds' that drives web 2.0 applications. Web 2.0 services not only enlists users to generate content, they also trust them as co-developers. These services, like Gmail from Google are often released in the `beta' stage, that is, when new features are constantly being added, so that its developers can judge user response to them and constantly modify and update them.

Of course, all of this is not without its disadvantages; "There is very little control over content, meaning that these services are often subject to vandalism and inaccuracies," says Neerav. "But on the whole, I think this a step in the right direction."

So now you know; web 2.0 simply means that the Internet has become increasingly democratic and user-driven. And the next time you're stumped by a cyber-ism, you can always refer to that other shining example of web 2.0-ness, urbandictionary.com, where everything from `machi' ("way of addressing friend in South India, especially Chennai") to yes, web 2.0 is defined by users and rated for effectiveness by others.

DIVYA KUMAR

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